Chris at eden

BS8545 recommends not using fertilizer in the first season but if signs of nutrient deficiency become apparent then you should investigate and treat the cause. The sugar thing seems all the rage at the moment so yeah not a bad idea. Not sure how viable it is on the large scale. e.g. street tree planting. Mulching is a must though in my opinion.

Hi Jim, Hope you are well. All done with the survey. Looks interesting. Good luck with the IRP. Cheers, Chris. (former L6 Westonbirt)

I agree with the quick chat bit as pre-app discussions are always a good idea as is building a relationship with the TO. But a phone call does not meet the regs so I would stay away from this approach as you could come under criticism. Remember the register is available for public inspection so if someone complains the council will investigate. The first person to be criticised would be the TO followed by the one not submitting the notice properly. Saving time, paperwork and hassle is certainly not what planning regulations are about but its not a bad idea anyway. If you want to do this then why not (after you have spoken with the TO) ping him/her an e-mail stating what you will do as discussed on the phone. If you do it straight away they will be at their desk and can put it on the register and answer by return e-mail. Job done and you would be better covered.

Why? Unless the branch is dead or the statutory undertaker is doing the works it needs a notice as far as I can see.

I agree. That would count as a 211 notice, not need to use the one app.

Gary is correct A5's are no longer issued due to changes in the 2012 regs. Furthermore, all the old ones have been revoked again by the 2012 regs. You can't invoice the council as they won't pay but if you go for a hearing with the PINS inspector you may be able to get costs if you win. Good luck.

You can't claim ignorance anyway, TPO contravention is a strict liability offence so no hiding behind 'I didn't know'. That is if they are TPO'd. Its the developer that will get the stop notice or breach of condition notice so for me they should sort it and get you the go ahead from the TO. You should be on site for the meeting though. If you have a well written spec for the pruning I don't see why you would need to meet! So you can point at branches and say yeah, that one. Doesn't sound like a great approach to me. It would be like meeting on site and saying yeah, go on then, build it there. LPA's can ask for some strange things sometimes. I've been asked to write an AMS this afternoon for an AIA I wrote last week. Its not yet been decided which trees can be removed and tree retention will directly influence the driveway specification. i.e. no dig if one of the trees retained. I wrote the AIA with both options and evaluated which is fine in my view but the AMS is a specification and therefore what is going to happen exactly. You can't condition implementation of two different final layouts, that makes no sense!!! Is it me?

You don't cover 5837 in great detail in anything lower than L6. I know this as I have done, NC, ND, ISA, tech cert and L6. The critical evaluation part of doing the AIA is in itself a L6 skill. Again, you won't be asked to critically evaluate anything on an ND course, its not higher education. Critical writing is the biggest learning curve on L6 and the thing that most people struggle with. ND is fine if you want to do mass risk surveys. Its not a top level consultancy qualification. Another point. I've attended loads of planning hearings with the PINS. The inspector is usually a planning expert that knows nothing about trees. The first thing they ask is for you to write down your position, qualifications, and professional memberships. They use this to assess your level of expertise. L6 will always out weigh ND which is L3.

Trees only adapt to normal conditions or slightly increased. If the inbuilt safety factor is exceeded then even defect free trees can fail. The increased weight and sail can magnify this effect in my opinion. The growth of ivy can be controlled by light levels which is why it doesn't grow to become the climax vegetation and destroyer of woodland trees. As such light canopied trees will be more prone to becoming overrun by ivy. I've never seen a beech with a significant ivy issue as the dense canopy will limit growth. Ash on the other hand, you see them all the time with excessive ivy growth.

Farmland is subject to the Forestry Act 1967 so depending on how big the trees are you may need a felling licence. 5 cube isn't much when you are dealing with big trees. Depending on whether a national park can be classed as public open space would determine whether there are additional restrictions. I would think there are tough.

No mate. Its the way I wrote it. Not that clear.

I did mine about 15 years ago and I only used the guide. I had done National Certificate previously though but I thought it was pretty straight forward. It would probably be worth reading the online TPO guidance also. There is also an ISA publication call ' arboriculture - the integrated management of landscape trees'. I think its Mathany and Clark. That is like a beefed version of the ISA guide.

Ahh, think I see what you are saying. Yes you can still fell 5 but you can only sell 2 of that 5. Sorry. Does that make more sense? Cheers,

Yes that is what I said. If felling more than 5 cube or selling more than 2 FL required. Sorry if this was not clear. Cheers,

Firstly why is the consultant recommending reduction as a percentage? There is a good chance the LPA will refuse to validate this spec!!! That said Frank Rinn did some research into the efficacy of reduction on reducing loading. From memory what he said was 20% height reduction reduces loading at the base by 50%. I have this second hand from a Reg consultant so don't rely on it from me but if that's correct the works may be a short term fix. I would not make this recommendation though without testing the t/R with a resi drill. And even then I would be dubious and strongly recommend the test is carried out annually. My preference would still be fell though. I did one recently in Birmingham, large beech next to the road. Load of KD at the base. Recommended fell with no further investigation. Picus wont work and a drill would breach the heavily suberized barrier zone that beech relies on so would be counter productive. That was my justification. This all comes with the usual caveats. This is just speculation as I have not seen the tree, none of this info is to be relied upon for determining works. Appropriate assessment is required if in any doubt.

Don't forget felling licence requirements also, these are often over looked. Residential land is exempt obviously but not all lands are. Believe it of not you would need a felling licence from the forestry commission if you are felling more than 5 cubic metres of timber in a calendar quarter if the trees are say located on an industrial estate. If you are selling the timber this comes down to 2 cube. This is the one that is most often over looked.

Yes, from a professional member, I think you may need two to go straight in at associate member. I got away with one as I joined as a student when doing L6 and they only ask for one then. I then switched to associate this year. The info is all on the application forms. Cheers,

I'm working toward ICF with my L6 and they don't seem to have a problem. They know that is what I have and are encouraging me to pursue. In fact Dave Dowson was my reference to join so no issue there as far as I can see. Email Stuart Glen of ICF, he manages admissions. You'll find him on linked in. If you struggle to find him click on my LinkedIn page via my website and he is one of my connections. I will also drop him an email tomorrow if I get time and let you know the outcome. Good luck.

Yeah I agree totally. Cheers, Chris.

There has been a lot of talk about the ICF and PD recently but I am currently working towards chartered arb and they don't seem to have an issue with PD, nor have they at any point promoted the degree. When I signed up for L6 one of the places I looked at was Warwick. I was considering bsc also. The head tutor told me that as I was leaning toward L6 I should not underestimate the amount of work involved. He then went on to say if I didn't have the time to commit to it I should look at the degree instead. No offence meant by this that is just what he said. I personally think L6 sets you up better for consultancy. If you did 5837 as part of your degree in an exam you could answer 50% of the questions wrong and still pass. With L6 you would complete the tree survey, TCP, aia, and tpp. It would then be assessed by a registered consultant (if you did it with Dave Dowson) and if not up to scratch you would get it back until it did. I can't see how the learning is not more complete with that system. Then again, if you want to teach or do research then the degree may be better although you do the IRP for L6 also. I see no reason why there is not room for both in the industry. I think it would be a huge shame if PD disappeared.

I shall wait for clarification before I start ranting. He may have a point though, there is hardly anyone on the AARC list with PD. Never said I wouldn't be sarcastic!!! No seriously though, L6 is life changing. I have doubled my income within five months of finishing. I used to get a little intimidated by real top architects and planning consultants but now nothing really phases me. Does education get you ahead and is it worth the effort? Damn right on both counts.

Sounds about right to me. You could also prune dead roots, those required to implement full planning consent, etc. Oh and my personal favourite, root pruning in the interests of national security. That is just cool.

I would give that one a miss. If you slice the top off the root and lay pavers on top the root will form wound wood and move the blocks. You would also be creating a large wound as appose to a small one from root pruning

What is he pd?